2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #238 "THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE"

      Okay, what is the most important thing in life?  I know that’s a truly general question, so I will give you my one-word answer: Gratification.  Not power, love, prestige, success, money or fame, although one can get gratification from those things.  But gratification comes from the inner knowledge that the world is a somewhat better place because you have spent your span of years upon it.  This can occur by living an honest life, setting up programs to help those less fortunate, being involved in Saving the Whales or the Redwoods, or seeing one’s children grow up to be happy, well-adjusted and successful, etc.  And there is nothing better, particularly when that is combined with appreciation.

       Why bring these issues up now?  Because we are in the Season of Thanksgiving, which is truly one of the most important days of the year.  Why is that?  Because it is not a particularly commercialized occasion in which most of us get to spend time with family, enjoying each other’s company and being appreciative about what we have, where we live and who we are.  And that expressly includes being appreciative for our ability to live in the United States of America!  Just this past week I published my new book 2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, which is composed of 180 of the more substantive editions of this 2 Paragraphs series.  And this country affords me the Liberty to spout off with my thoughts, which simply would not be true if I lived in places like China, North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela.  I am thankful for that – and we all should be!  So Happy Thanksgiving, and as you pass the day with your family and friends, be extra appreciative, because that too brings gratification.

Story of the week: Have you heard about Old Ben?  He was a rooster on a chicken ranch which had about 100 hens, which they called pullets, and 10 roosters.  But the roosters were monitored by the owner to make sure they were “assisting” the hens so that they would lay eggs regularly.  (If they didn’t perform, they were soon placed in a frying pan and replaced by other roosters that would.)  But one day the owner decided to place little bells around the necks of his roosters so that he could monitor their involvement based upon the distinctive tone of each of the bells instead of having to go down to the yard.  For a few days he could tell that Old Ben was active, but soon Old Ben’s bell went silent.  So when the owner investigated, he found that Old Ben was taking the bell in his mouth so that it would not ring.  Then, particularly since the bells of the other roosters would warn the hens of their approach, he was able to have a field day with more of the hens.  The media soon found out about this sly Old Ben, which brought so much fame to him that he eventually was awarded the Nobel Piece Prize – and then later the Pullet Surprise!  Just thought you would want to know.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.  In addition, my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, is now available at Amazon.com.   Please read and discuss it with friends, and send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #225 "FREE TRADE ENRICHES US ALL"

         Because of my research for our new musical “Convention: the Birth of America,” which is about the 1787 Constitutional Convention, I have become quite familiar with the beliefs of our Founders.  And one of those beliefs, which was enshrined in Article I, sections 9 and 10 of our Constitution, was that there would be no tariffs imposed on trade between or among the states.  Can you imagine the harmful effect it would have had if, for example, Virginia had been able to have imposed tariffs for goods it imported from Maryland?  Such tariffs would have been deeply destructive to our nation’s economy.  As a result, Virginia, Maryland and all of the other states since that time have been able to focus upon what they did best, and also derive the benefit of receiving goods and services from other states that were derived from what they did best as well.  And this accrued to everyone’s benefit.

          But today it is far easier for businesses in our country to trade with China, India, Germany or any other country than it was for Maryland to trade with Virginia in the 18^thCentury.  And trade barriers among countries have the same effect as they would have had among our states.  So let China, Mexico, Japan and Indonesia focus upon what they do best, and let our consumers here benefit by being able to purchase high quality products for reasonable competitive prices from those countries. All the while the businesses in our country will be able to focus upon what they do best, with the same result.  And, besides, this will also bring numerous other additional benefits.  For example, countries have a deep tendency not to go to war with their own customers, so this will reduce military strife.  And if the people in Mexico, Guatemala and Indonesia are better able to profit from producing goods in their own countries, their economy will be stronger, with the result that not so many people will feel the necessity to emigrate from their country to ours.  So, once again, Liberty works!

The two best signs in my memory that were held up by fans at sporting events:  First, I was listening to a Dodgers’ broadcast on opening day in about 1962 from Shea Stadium in New York when the Mets were not playing good ball when Vin Scully started laughing on the air.  He then explained that he saw a fan holding a sign up in the right field bleachers that said: “Wait Til Next Year!” And this was on opening day!  The second was at a UCLA Basketball game, when a young man stood up in his seat while holding a big sign then said: “The People Behind Me Can’t See.”

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #204 "THE GREEN BOOK"

        Easily one of the best movies I have ever seen is The Green Book, and I strongly recommend you see it as well.  The story is about a working-class Italian fairly racist bouncer (Viggo Mortensen) who becomes a driver on a concert tour from New York City through the Deep South for a truly refined and gifted African-American classical pianist (Mahershala Ali).  The title comes from a book called The Negro Motorist Green Book, which listed facilities like motels and restaurants in the South that would accommodate African Americans and, by 1962, it had a circulation of 2 million people.  But, as one reviewer said, this movie has family, culture, honesty, dignity, genius, respect, stereotypes, racism, music, class, friendship and fried chicken.  What I say is that it has character development almost beyond belief, and that it is simply laden with human and socially-redeeming value.  And, by the way, I understand that the fantastic piano playing was actually all performed by Mr. Ali, and who was born in Oakland!

        But why talk about a movie in this 2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty series?  Because it simply would never have been made except in a free society.  Repressive regimes like in Cuba, China or the former Soviet Union would never have allowed a movie depicting their police or people acting in such a racist and inhumane fashion!  Only with Liberty can artists truly create, publish and thrive in accordance with their own inner drives and desires, and we are all so much better off for it.  Only with Liberty would a film like this ever be allowed to be shown and openly discussed.  I’m sure that each one of us could come up with other similar examples, but my strong example is “The Green Book.”  If you don’t see it, you are missing a rare masterpiece! 

Quote for the week on a Father’s Day Card sent to me by my daughter: “Dad.  No matter what life throws at you, at least you don’t have ugly children.” 

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

By the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #181 “DO WE REALLY WANT LIBERTY?”

     When it comes down to it, Liberty can be scary.  In reality, since the world can be a hard and even cruel place, many people actually would give up their Liberty in place of wanting “Mother Government” to take care of them.  So many people around the world would voluntarily give up their Liberty and self-rule in exchange for being taken care of by some “benevolent ruler” or tribal leader.  That is certainly true today in Russia and Afghanistan.  (Actually, in many ways this approach seems to have been working quite well for several generations in Singapore, but the problem comes in ensuring that the subsequent rulers will always be equally benevolent.)  Other countries like China, Vietnam, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are going through the some stages of wanting Liberty and self-rule, but they have many generations of subservience to overcome.  Nevertheless, be that as it may, the main question presented to us today is, really – and let’s be honest with ourselves – what do we want?

     It is clear what our Founders wanted.  To a man, each of the delegates to our Constitutional Convention in 1787 believed that the most important function of government was to protect our Liberties from encroachment by the government.  (The second most important was to keep us safe.)  As such, each delegate would be aghast that our federal government is involved in such things as dictating our health care and education and licensing so many jobs.  Bluntly speaking, the Founders’ approach literally distilled into the understanding that, if I were literally bleeding on the street, you would have no legal responsibility to help me (unless you had helped to cause my injuries).  But, in actuality, we will, because that’s who we are – we are a compassionate people.  That means that the difference between the two approaches is that, in Liberty, no one is entitled to receive assistance.  So, under Liberty, maybe people will be more industrious in their own care, and more appreciative when they receive assistance.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Question of the week: “What do you get if you cross an elephant with a rhinoceros?”  Answer: El-if-i-no. 

By the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty!